Family brought to tears by 'Save My Bakery' makeover

Steve Riccelli took over the shop seven years ago -- it was his dream to own a bakery, but that dream was turning into a nightmare. Steve wiped out his savings to get the bakery up and running, and sales have since dropped off. Steve was spending seven days a week at the shop to make ends meet, and admitted he was burnt out.

With a little tough love, a few tense fights, some recipe updates and training of the bakery's so-called incompetent staff, Kerry turned the bakery from a dingy hole-in-the-wall to a destination for locals and tourists. Steve's wife, A.J., couldn't believe it. In fact, she began to cry the moment she saw the makeover.

KERRY: "I know that this has had a profound effect on you, and a few tears every once in a while when they're good ones, it's worthwhile."
A.J.: "Thank you. So much."

A.J. couldn't help but smile -- she was finally getting her husband back from the bakery. Kerry's makeover included a total redesign, with a new color scheme, updated appliances and new displays. Steve couldn't have been happier.

"We were definitely overwhelmed. These people are pros in every respect ... we had a lot of fun that week, even though it was the coldest week of the year ... they actually pulled [it] off and did a wonderful job with it."

Fans thought so, too -- they were loving the episode and Schubert's new look.

Comments

It's the baked goods that'll keep people coming in . . . although the new look will invigorate things. :) If the business end is causing burn out . . . and there isn't enough time to explore 'baking' . . . you're in a serious bind. Bakers LOVE having time to experiment. I know because my brother is a baker. I see him once a year and see the improvements. He's like a mad scientist. lol. A 'dream' of opening a bakery doesn't make you a 'baker' however. :( You need that love of 'baking.' New 'ideas' for this or that keep you from burning out. :)

I've worked in two bakeries - not by choice. At the time I simply needed a job and they were hiring.Bakery work is the toughest work there is even tougher than building houses. Say what ?Yep. You'll never get rich owning a bakery. Most of your products go stale in one day. Few people will buy stale day old bread.

Your day starts at 3 am with rising and proofing the dough. Then forming loaves and everything else.Then re-rising and baking all of it in time to open at 8 am. The doughnuts have to be fried in a deep fat fryer. For some reason bakery customers are always in a hurry - maybe it's the sugar, who knows.If you combine the bakery with a sandwich shop, you can at least break even. You never sit down and are lucky if your day ends at 6 pm. Then you have to mop everything, every day. Then, you go home, fall into bed, and get up at 2 am again.

"For some reason bakery customers are always in a hurry - maybe it's the sugar, who knows."They are people that are usually on their way to or from work and either don't want to be late or are tired and hungry and want to get home also.It doesn't help when they open later and close earlier than the people that buy their products jobs do.The one in my town isn't convenient for my wife to go to and they are usually closed when i get out of work or the stuff i would buy you usually have to pre order and then again there would be the pick up problem of hours open.It's not really anyone's fault,just the way it is.Much of the time it isn't the decour but taking the clientele into consideration because if they can't be there when you are open you don't have any customers and the same holds true for your product line.I've known some hole in the wall places that have flourished and some fancy places that never got off the ground.Either you're dedicated to your customers or you stuggle a lot.

If it is a privately own bakery they can operate whatever hours they want. If I ever owned my own business, I would make sure it would be decent hours. I would open around 8-9am and close 7-8pm. If you don't like it too bad. Also I would never buy into that Black Friday stupidity either, it is just not fair to employees and their families.

The big quetion is did it bring in more bussiness on a regular basis?He struggled because he probably couldn't afford to hire people to do the jobs he needed to be done because he was struggling to survive and didn't have the money to reinvest into the business,it's a catch 22 situation

A BAKER IS A VERY STRESSFUL JOB. HE IS USUALLY THE FIRST PERSON TO GET UP IN THE MORNING TO START HIS DAILY ROUTINE MAKING AND WAITING FOR HIS BREAD AND SWEET DOUGH TO RISE IN ORDER TO BAKE THOSE ITEMS, DURING THAT WAIT TIME HE IS MAKING COOKIES ,BUNS, AND ALL SORTS OF SWEETS IN TIME FOR THE DOORS TO OPEN.

Don't be so mean....Older people like me have poor eyesight and cap and bolder to make it a little easier for themselves...I am not doing it here because I do not want to upset you anymore. Also, loss of good eyesight was a total shock for me. It can happen to anyone, no rhyme or reason. Detached retina just happened all by itself, so please Kenny, be kind. Karma really is a B**ch.

owning your own business is 24/7. not the luxury life some folks think it will be. No time off, no vacations, small profits, arrogant customers. I was sooooo glad when we sold ours after 30+ years. Glad for their turn around and hope it sticks.